Weft-feeler mechanism for looms for weaving



Jan. 27, 1931. DJ M. HOLLINS 7 14 WEFT FEELER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS FORWEAVING' Filed March 1, 1929 67/ zfioeqj'ofl Denis JIIHolZinsnmnmnmmlmmIHNHHHHIIHII i v B 2- I Patented "Jan. 27, 1931.

* I m-ED ST mam ra-Nr mnns MAoHELr. HOL'LINS, or rrnoxenmr, ENGLAND;ns'sreuon. 'ro be n conrjonamron, or soreness, ranssnceznsnrrs;Aconrcnarron or- AINE WEFT-F L R MECHANISM son Looms r03 'wEAvIne alication filed 1Zarch.1, 1929, Serial no; 343,672., and in Great Britainmm hiaieas.

Lhe invention relates to mechanism employed in looms 'for'weaving todetect sub stantial. exhaustion of the weft in a shuttle and, on suchdetection, to initiate stoppage of 'the loom for replenishment of theweft either by substituting a full bobbin for the substantiallyexhausted bobbin in the shuttle, or by. replacement of the shuttle byone-containing a full bobbin.

Two general classes of weft detector or feeler mechanism have hithertobeen generally employed, one dependingupon mechanical action and theother upon electric action.

Both thesetypes of feeler mechanismhave 2 been open to objection. I Inthe purely mechanical type of mechanism, the mechanical connectionsnecessary to convey the indications of substantial weft exhaustion tothe loom stoppingor weft replenishing mechanism' have had to beft-akeninto account in locating the feeler on the loom, and havesometimesrendered it'diflic'ult or impossible to locate the feeler intheposition desired,

and such mechanical connections have also givenrise to undesirable lostmotion between the feeler and the stopping or replenishing mechanism. Inthe purely electric type of feeler mechanlsm, as usually constructed, it

has been necessary to provide the bobbin with a metal sleeve with which,on substantial exhaustion of the weft, the end of the feelerspindle or apart carried thereby may be contact of the detecting member with the 7last few turns of weftoverlaying the sleeve, andcause thereby a stoppageof the loom.

A further disadvantage appertaining to the use of 'an electric feelerofthis type is that it necessitates the use. of special bobbins which,owing to the metallic sleeves, are considerably more costly than theordinary bobbins. j Attempts have been made to provide feelermechanisms-which are partly'mechanical and partly electrical in theiraction, but these havedependedupon impactpbetweena mov-- V able. memberand the yarn mass onthe bobbin,

inord'er thatwhen substantial exhaustion ,occurs the ,movab le inembermay penetrate to thefsur'face of the bobbin andcbe-given by the latter.such a movement as; will complete-an electric circuit for the purpose ofinitiating loom stoppage or weft replenishment.

- The general object of the 'present invention is to provide an improvedform or construction of weft. feeler mechanism which,

whilst being primarily mechanicalin its action and having no detrimentaleffect upon the weft, will transmit its indications ofweft' exhaustionby electrical means'and thus avoid.

anyilost motion in its connections to the stop or change mechanism,whilst at the same t me permlttmg of the 'feeler being'disposed m anydesired position. A'further object is to-so construct the mechanism asto facilitate.

the accurate adjustment which is'requisit'e to etficient operation.v

Feeler mechanism according to the inven tion is characterized in that amechanical feel'er of the known fsideeslip type, but o' fxxa improvedconstruction as compared with those-hitherto employed; is arranged, byits side-slip action orlm'overnentwhen Weft exhaustion is :detectedltocomplete an electriccircult and to transmit thereby to stop or 5;:

change mechanism an indication of su'chex haustion. p j

The accompanying drawing illustrates-in plan. view at Fig; 1v a fee-lermechanism according to the invention with the lidor cover of theenclosing. casing removed, the parts being shown in the normal runningpositions. V V

Fig. 2 is a .similar view to Fig. 1, but shows the parts in thepositions they assume when substantial" exhaustion of weft has been detected. v

Referring tothe drawing, a represents a box or casing adapted tobes'upporte'd either on the movingpart of the lay or on thebr'ea st beamaccording to the type orconstruction ofloom concerned.

Within this casing there is p'ivotally mounted at b a: lev'er-or arm barrangedto swing in aFlIOTlZOIltHk plane and longitudinally of the loom.On this lever b there is c which is slidably mounted in hearings inflanges 6 Z1 onthe lever b. The rear end of this member is preferably inthe form of a fiat plate 0 of suitable width, having its rear extremity0 serrated or otherwise fashioned toform a weft-engaging surface. Theportion 0 of the feeler member is offset a short distance from thecentre line of the body 0. and shank c and the latterare themselvesoffset from the centre lineof the lever b. A

coiled sm-ir c confined on the shank 0 be i .L I tween :1 shoulderonsaid feerer and the flange 6 on the lever 7), acts to holdthefeelermember normally in a rearwardly pro1ected position." The stops6 and b are shown as being constituted by upturnedlugs on the lever b,and they form guidesthrough which the body and the shank canrespectively slide.

A rod 03, mounted on the casing a to slide in a directionfrontwardly andrearwardly of the loom, has itsrea r endfashioned to form, or to carry,an abutment cl which, as the lay heats up, is adapted to be struck by aconvenient part d on the lay, such asa part of the shuttle or oftheshuttlebox wall. This assumes that the feeler mechanism is mounted on[the breast beam. -A counter balancing spring e, confined between thefront end of the casing a and an adjustable stop onthe rod Z, normallyholds said rod projected rearwardly. The stop may take conveniently, andisshown ,as taking. the form of the boss f of a member 7, said bossbeing located on a threaded portion of the rod.

The end of the member [is forked as at 7, and is arranged to straddle ahorizontal spindle g,'journalled at its ends in the easing a and passingthrough an opening in an upstanding lug b on the pivoted arm I), saidlug being, as shown, offset from the pivot centre of the arm; An armactuating spring h, confined between the lug Z2 and a stop h adjustablypositioned on the spindle 9, tends to swing the arm 7) towards the rightin Fig. 1, but is restrained normally from so doing by the act-ion ofthe counterbalancing spring 0. which is of suitable greater strengththan the springh.

.A lug b upstanding from the arm b,carries a spring blade or plate 71,which is suitably insulated from the lug and has mounted upon it twocontacts 2" and i which, when the arm is swung towards the right, asshown in Fig. 2. areadapted to be carried intoabutment with two fixedcontacts 7" and j mounted on an insulating block k secured to the casinga and connected by respective leads m and m to an electro-magnet orother device'forming partof or included in an electric circuitcontrolling the actuation of the weft change mechanism or stop mechanismof the loom.

If, asthe lay beats up, a working quantity of weft is present on thebobbin, as indicated in Fig. 1, the feeler member is engaged by the weftmass and, as the lay completes its movement, is slid frontwardly. end oftherod (Z is then engaged by its 00- operating abutment and the rod ismoved frontwardly,carrying themember f frontwardly away'from the lug'bon the lever b, but theengagement of the surface 0 of the feelermemberwith the weft mass prevents i148 spring h from operating to swingthe lever b.

If the weft supply is substantially exhausted, then when the feelermember has been moved forwardly by contact with the denuded bobbin B andthe rod (Z has been moved by contactwith' its abutment, the feelermember will not be held by the weft mass against svingingmovement, andthe spring It will operate to swing the lever b, and with it the feelermember, to the right and thus carry thecontacts i, i into abutment withthe fixed contacts j, y' tric circuit is thus completed through thecontacts j, and j and the stop or weft change mechanism put into action.

As the lay goes back, the counterbalano ing spring 6 acting-011 the rodd overcomes the arm-actuating spring 72 acting from the arm 6, with theresult that. the latter, and with it the feeler'me'mber, is swung backto normal position, this being conveniently determined by the abutmentof the feeler lever against aprojection'a on the ca'singz It will thusbe seen that I have provided a sideslip feeler of simple constructionwhich owing to the relatively broad weft engaging The rear The elec theweft, and that I utilize the lateral or side-slip movement of the feelermember to close directly an electric circuitgoverning the actuation ofthe'weft change or stop mechanism of the loom. During such time as anample supply of weft is present, the feel er member is subjectedto nolateral urge until it has fully engaged the weft mass, but assubstantial exhaustion approaches the feeler member is subjectedtolateral urge as'its engaging surface approaches'the bobbin, so that ifan insufficient weft supply is present the feeler may swing laterallyand initiate electrically a weft change'or a stoppage of the loom.Adjustment of the feeler action is efiected simply by turning inone orthe other direction the sliding rod (l and the horizontal' s indle g tovary the pressure of the springs, respectivelymounted thereon, that onthe spindle ensuring closing of the electric circuit on a lateral orsideslip? movement of the feeler, and that on the sliding rod ensuringreturn of the 'feeler lever'to normal position. i

It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the constructionand arrangement ofthe parts employed in carrying out the invention, theessential feature being the employment of a mechanically operatingfeeler, of the general construction described, arranged to initiate byelectrical means a weft change or stoppage of the loom.

upon indication ofsubstantial weft exhaustion. v i r 7 Having thusdescribed my invention,

what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is 1. A feelerfor looms comprising a cas ing, a feeler armpivotally mounted thereon,

a feeler yieldably mounted on said feeler arm and having means to engagethe weft'upon a bobbin, a spring mounted on said casing engag ng saidarm and tendlng to swing the same laterally, a counter-balancing springmounted on said casing and acting normally to overcome the force of thespring acting upon the pivoted feeler arm, means acting upon eachbeat-up of the lay to relieve the force of said counter-balancing springto swing said feeler arm laterally upon detectionof exhaustion offilling, and means operable by the'lateral movement of said feeler armto complete an electric circuit operable to effect a change in. theoperationof the loom. i y Y 2. A feeler for looms comprisin a casing, afeeler arm, pivotally mounted thereon, a spring-actuated feeler slidablymounted on said feeler arm having means to engage the weft upon a bobbinand movable in a direction out of alinement with the pivot of saidfeeler arm, a spring mounted on said cas ing and engaging sald armtending to swing said arm laterally, a counter-balancing spring amountedon said casing in substantial parallelism with the spring acting uponsaid pivoted feeler arm and acting normally to.

overcome the force thereof, means acting upon each beat-up of the lay torelieve the force ofsaid counter-balancing spring, thereby permittingsaid feeler arm-actuat'ng spring to swing said feeler arm laterally upondetection of exhaustion of filling, and means operable by the lateralmovement of said feeler arm to complete an electric circuit operable toeffect a change in the operation of the loom.

3. Afeeler forlooms compris'ng a pivotally mounted feeler arm, a feeleryieldably mounted thereon having means to eng'age'the weft upon abobbin, an abutment on said feeler arm, a spring acting upon saidabutment tending to swing said feeler arm laterally, acounter-balancingspring acting upon said abutment, and means operableupon each beat-up of the layto rel eve the force of saidcounter-balancing spring'upon said abutment, thereby permitting saidarmn n c upon said abutment, means for ad usting thespring, therebypermitting said feeler arm-actuating actuating spring to swing-saidfeeler arm laterally upon detection .of exhaustion, of fill ing,and-means operable by the lateral movement of said feeler arm to,completeran electric circuit operableflto eater achange in theoperation of the'loom;

A feeler for looms compr sing'a- PIVOC? ally-mounted feeler arm, afeeler yield-ably mounted thereon having nieans' to engage.

the'weft upon a bobbin, an abutment on saic feeler arm, a sprin actingu'pon saidxabutment tendingEto swing saidfeeler a1-m-;1 eral'ly, acounter-balancingspring ac relativeforces of said springs uponsaidabutment, and means operable upon each beat-upofthe lay to relieve theforce of said counter-balancing spring upon said abutmejnt, therebypermitting saidarm-actuating spring to swing said feeler arm laterallyupon detecton OfBXhLUSlJlOll of filling, and ,means operable by thelateral movement of said feeler arm to complete an electric circuitoperable to effect a, change in the operation Off/116100111." w i v ,5 j

5. feeler for looms comprisingacasing, a feeler arm pivotal'lymountedupon sa'd :casing, a feeler yieldably mounted'on said armhaving means toengage the weft upon-a -bobbin, an abutment on said. feeler, arm, a

feeler, arm-actuating. spring and alcounten balancing spring arranged insubstantial "parallel sm and hav1ng ;1neans actlng upon- ;opposites1desofsa1dabutment, and means acting upon e ach beatup of the laytorelieve the force of said counter balanoin'g spring upon saidabutment, thereby permitting said feeler arm -actuating spring-Itovswing the feeler arm laterally upon detection o'fexhaustion of filling,and meansoperable bythe lateral movement ofsaid feeler arm to completean electric circuit operable to effect a change in the operation of theloom.

6. A feeler for looms comprising a'casing,'

the abutment on said arm and its opposite end mounted upon said rod andengaging the nut thereupon, a counter-balancing spring intermediate ofsaidmember and said casing acting normally to hold said rodin forwardlyextending position and to hold said member in engagement with said nutand to overcome the force of said arm-actuating spring ISO whereby saidfeeler Will be maintained normally in position to engage the weft upon abobbin, butupon substantial exhaustion of filling by the engagement ofsaid rod with the memberupon the lay upon beat-up Will cause acompression of said counter-balancing spring, thereby permitting saidarm-actuating sprlng to cause lateral swinglng 'movement of saidrarm,and meansoperable b the lateral movement of said arm to comy L plete anelectric circuit operable to efiect a change in the operation of theloom.

7. A feeler for looms comprising a casing, a feeler arm pivotallymounted in said casing, a i'eeler yieldably mounted on said arm havingmeans to engage the Weft upon a bobbin, an abutment on said arm locatedin pronimity to the pivot thereof, a spindlemounted in said casinghaving a screw threaded end portion With a'nut mounted thereon, anarm-actuating spring intermediate of said nut and said abutment, a rodslidably mounted in said casing having means to engage a part carried bythe lay and having a screw threaded portion provided With a 'nut, amember having one end engaging the abutment on saidarm and its oppositeend mounted upon said rod and engaging the nut there upon, acounter-balancing spring intermediate of said member and saidcasingacting normally to hold said rod in forwardly eX- tending positionandto hold said member in engagement with. said nut and to overcome theforce of said arm-actuating spring Where i by said' feeler will bemaintained normallyin positionto engage the Weftupon a bobbin, means forrotating said rod to adjust the nut thereon and thereby to adjusttheforce 0 said counter-balancingspring. 1

In tes-tlmony whereof I afiix my s gnature.

DENIS MAGHELL HOLLINSQ

